What's the most powerful machine you've been on?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

For me it would have to be the Currituck Split-Hull Dredge ship, ages ago, when i was working as a photographer for the York County Coast Star, i was allowed on board the ship to take some photos of the dredge in action…

if the sheer size of the ship doesn’t impress you, or the power of the pumps pumping up silt, sand and detritus from the harbor bed, then the dumping of the sediment has got to be impressive, the ship powers out to a point off the coast and the HULL SPLITS LONGITUDANILY like a clamshell opening, dumping the sediment back into the ocean…

the bow and stern hinges on this beast are massive…

2

Easily, this guy:
The USS Annapolis.

3

This is too easy.
CVN-75 when it was fresh out of the yards.

4

That has got to play havoc with your insurance.

5

Fixed link

Cool.

6

It’s not the Truman, but it’s sister ship the Stennis, but still, you can see the damn things from space !

7

I guess it would be the U.S.S. Lexington.

8

The most powerful machine I’ve been on is probably a 747.

My father was in the navy though…

9

I’m assuming it would be the single engined four seater aircraft my Dad had a flight lesson in. That or one of the express buses on the way home.

Comparing these to machinery that can be seen from orbit, its clear I’ve not lived enough :stuck_out_tongue:

10

How are we measuring power? Speed, volume, tonnage? Aircraft would win in one venue, while ferries and other oceangoing vessels are victors in another.

11

Most powerful I’ve ever driven ? Probably this fellow. IIRC it had 12 1400 hp engines (total: 16,800 hp) . (Although “drive” is a relative term here. Semisubmersibles sorta drag theirself along the seabed using anchors on really long cables).

I have a small* amount of time driving this gal. She sports about 7200 hp total.
*very small. but oh so memorable.

12

O feck, the geek in me assumed you meant computers. I was all ready to post “This!”

The most powerfull machine I’ve been on might be the HMS Belfast.

Or it could be one of the Steam Packet ferries, being that they are a lot newer than the Belfast.

13

I was on the USS Enterprise! No, not the starship, the nuclear carrier. That was and remains one hell of an impressive ship.

14

But you have a cool username. :smiley:

(What board would be complete without a Pushkin and a Pullin, I ask you?)

15

My answer is probably Concorde.

(It didn’t have to be in motion at the time, did it? :wink: )

16

I once took a tour of an active missile Launch Facility, and leaned over and physically touched one of these puppies aimed directly skyward, with the word “LOADED” stenciled on the side of the shroud.

But I didn’t “ride it” per se. My name’s Tripler, not Major Kong.

Tripler
I don’t even think I’d want to be around when they started the ignition keys either. :eek:

17

Does Hoover Dam count?

18

If we’re making the distinction between ‘machine’ and ‘vehicle’ then probably the most powerful machine I’ve been ‘on’ is either Hinkley-Point Nuclear power station, or Heysham (forget the other name) Nuclear power station.

19

Does the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror count? I don’t remember how many HPs those engines are, but they’re a lot. Also various commercial aircraft.

20

Yeah, you can see it from space also.